The two fighters faced each other in battle-ready stances. They ignored their surroundings and the crowd of eager spectators watching them. Each warrior’s focus was entirely on his opponent as he waited for the duel to begin.

Finally a voice called out a single word. “Fight!”

Both warriors immediately sprang into action, raining powerful blows upon each other as the crowd shouted words of encouragement to whichever one they favoured. Almost from the start it was clear that the fight was utterly mismatched. As much as he tried the challenger was no match for the reigning champion. Despite this his supporters continued to cheer for him and so he gave it his all but the outcome was inevitable. Within only a few moments the challenger lay defeated.

“Ha ha, Taro wins again!” Hibino Hareluya crowed gleefully. He was a tall, strongly built teenager with spiky black hair. He was dressed in the blue school uniform of Rakuen High. “You lose Ichijou!”

Makoto Ichijou shrugged as he stepped back from the arcade game he had been playing. He was the same height and build as Hibino and also wore a Rakuen High uniform. His shoulder-length hair was bright red.

His opponent, a little boy named Taro, grinned and raised his fist in triumph. His fans, all kids his own age, swarmed around him as they congratulated him on his win. The excited chatter filled the entire arcade.

“The current score is what, ten-nil now?” Hibino teased.

“Eight-nil” he said grudgingly.

“Never mind Ichijou, you played really well” said Yamana Michiru reassuringly. She was a beautiful girl with light brown eyes and gold-brown hair that came to her shoulder blades. Her uniform consisted of a maroon top, a grey skirt, white socks and black shoes.

“Thanks” he replied. His expression lightened as he added, “Besides, it was fun.”

“Exactly” she agreed with a cheerful smile.

Having finished accepting congratulations Taro turned to Ichijou and extended his hand. “Great game” he said.

“That it was” he replied as they shook hands. Both had been hurt deeply when Ibu Reiko, Ichijou’s former girlfriend and Taro’s surrogate big sister, had left Japan and despite the difference in their ages they had become good friends.

“Maybe next time you‘ll beat me” Taro said with a small grin.

“Maybe I will.”

“Ha! And maybe pigs will fly” Hibino scoffed.

“Come on Hibino, he‘s gotten a lot better” said Yamana.

Hibino laughed. “The day Ichijou beats Taro at that game is the day Ore-sama loses at anything.”

Ichijou started to reply but he was cut off by a sudden flash of brilliant white light and a deafening CRACK! of thunder that drowned out the electronic beeps and music from the various games. All talking instantly ceased.

“What the Hell was that?” Hibino said with a frown.

He, Ichijou, Yamana and Taro all rushed outside to find that the sky was completely blanketed by thick black clouds. Bolts of lightning flashed across the clouds, each flash accompanied by a thunderclap.

“What‘s going on here? There weren‘t any storms forecast for today” said Ichijou.

Hibino didn’t reply as he peered up at the clouds, squinting against the lightning. His instincts, honed by numerous battles, alerted him to something incoming and he spun around to push the others out of harm’s way…

He was too late. A huge bolt of lightning hurtled down from the sky, enveloping the four of them in blinding white light. The light vanished, leaving no sign of them.

Hibino rubbed his eyes as his vision began to clear. He looked around to see that he, Ichijou, Yamana and Taro were no longer standing outside the arcade. Instead they were now in the courtyard of an ornate temple. All around them were well-tended gardens with colourful flowers. The sky was a bright clear blue.

Before them stood a tall man dressed in a white outfit with a blue vest. He wore silver greaves, gauntlets and pauldrons. A black belt circled his waist and an amulet gleamed on his chest. A wide-brimmed straw hat shadowed his face but they could clearly see that his eyes were solid white without irises or pupils. Despite that he looked directly at them.

“Greetings” he said in a rich, deep voice. “Hibino Hareluya, Makoto Ichijou, Yamana Michiru, Taro, I bid you welcome.”

Hibino stepped in front of the group, ready to draw his bat at the first hint of hostility. “Start talking” he said with a glower. “Who the Hell are you and where are we?”

The man raised a hand in a calming gesture. “I mean you no harm. As to your questions I am Raiden, Defender of Earthrealm, and this is the White Lotus Society Temple. I apologise for bringing you all here in this manner but there is an urgent matter we must discuss.”

“And what’s that?” Hibino said warily.

“Our world is under threat of invasion by Shao Kahn, the emperor of Outworld. A tournament is being held to decide Earthrealm’s fate. If Outworld wins then our world will be absorbed into it. If an Earthrealm warrior wins then our world is safe.”

Ichijou, Yamana and Taro looked at each other in utter bewilderment. Hibino just grinned.

“And you want Ore-sama to win this tournament for you.”

“Precisely. I have observed you for some time Hibino-san. Your strength will be invaluable in defeating Outworld.”

“You got that right” he laughed.

“What about the rest of us?” Ichijou asked.

“Yes, we can‘t let Hibino face this alone” Yamana agreed.

“Your bravery and resolve are beyond question but you will not be participating in the tournament” Raiden replied. “The three of you are needed elsewhere.”

Ichijou frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The final challenge will be to face Shao Kahn himself in battle. However I have learned that he has discovered a source of power that makes him impervious to physical harm. None of an opponent‘s blows will even be able to make contact.”

“That cheating *******” Ichijou growled.

“Your mission will be to locate the power source and destroy it so that the emperor will be vulnerable” said Raiden. “I must warn you that if you agree to this you will be putting yourselves at great risk. The warriors of Outworld are savage and merciless. They will kill you without hesitation. I will understand if you decline.”

“Heh, Ore-sama is afraid of nothing” Hibino scoffed.

Ichijou and Yamana nodded at each other and stepped forwards.

“If I can help keep the world safe then I‘m willing to take the risk” said Ichijou.

“So am I” Yamana agreed.

Taro hesitated for a moment before also stepping forwards. “Yeah, I’m in.”

“Excellent” Raiden said with a proud smile. “I will send you home now. Make whatever arrangements you need and reconvene at Hibino-san‘s church in two hours. I will meet you then.”

After Raiden teleported the group back outside the arcade they each headed home to make preparations.

As it turned out there were actually few preparations needed as conveniently both Ichijou and Yamana’s parents were away. She made a telephone call to her boyfriend Okamoto, currently studying art in Paris but only got his answering machine. She kept her message light and casual, not wanting to worry him, but at the end she made sure to say, “always remember I love you.”

Taro, being in foster care, never bothered to tell anyone where he was going so this was nothing new. Hibino was content to tell his father that he’d be going out for a while.

Eventually they all met up again outside the church where Hibino lived. The sky was still covered by storm clouds but the lightning had stopped

“Glad you could make it Ichijou” said Hibino.

“Did you think I was going to chicken out?”

“Not at all. Ore-sama knows his servants are loyal. After all he chose them himself.”

Yamana smiled. She knew what he really meant. “Thanks Hibino.”

“Yeah thanks” Ichijou agreed.

Hibino grinned.

With a sudden crash of thunder a lightning bolt slammed into the ground and resolved into the now familiar form of Raiden.

“I am glad you are here. The tournament is about to begin” he said. “Hibino-san, you will come with me first. I will return for the rest of you in a few moments.”

“Be careful Hibino” said Yamana.

“Watch yourself” Ichijou added.

He laughed. “Worry not my servants. If this emperor thinks he can conquer the world Ore-sama will rule then he‘ll soon learn differently.”

Raiden nodded. “We go to Outworld.”

This time Hibino found himself standing in a large room, the walls and floor made of plain grey stone with a single door. He peered curiously at the other people in the room with him. He recognised one of them, a bare-chested man in black trousers and sunglasses, as the actor Johnny Cage, having seen a few of his movies, but the rest were a complete mystery.

Liu Kang stepped forwards with a look of dismay. He was also bare-chested and clad in black trousers and a red headband. Studded gauntlets covered his forearms.

“Lord Raiden you cannot be serious” he said. “This is a mere teenager.”

Hibino did not understand a word of this. He, had never paid much attention in his English classes, or any classes for that matter.

“Do not underestimate him” Raiden replied. “Despite his age he is a powerful fighter.”

“Damn right” Hibino agreed.

“What did he say?” Cage asked.

“Ah of course” said Raiden. “None of you can speak Japanese. As Defender of Earthrealm I can understand and be understood by all of its people, but for the rest of you…”

“Oh that‘s great” Sonya exclaimed. She was a blonde woman wearing a green, military-looking uniform. “Not only is he still in high school but none of us can understand him. That‘s just great.”

“Whoa take it easy” said Cage. “Raiden knows his stuff. After all he wanted me to join this team” he added with a cocky grin.

Before anyone could speak further the door opened and a figure clad in a purple hooded robe entered. He said nothing but gestured for them to follow him.

“The tournament begins” said Raiden. “The rest of you go on ahead. I will join you momentarily.”

Hibino laughed softly, knowing what Raiden meant. He followed the other Earthrealm fighters out as they left the room. The hooded figure led them through a stone corridor and out into brilliant sunshine.

They now stood in an immense stone arena. The ground beneath there feet was dry, cracked soil, baked hard by the sun. The stands above were filled with thousands of eager spectators, both human and non-human. Hibino had never had much interest in history but even he recognised the resemblance to the Roman Coliseum.

In the centre of the arena was an immense stone throne carved in the likeness of a ram-horned skull and raised above the ground by a row of steps. On either side of the throne was a pair of weathered and broken pillars covered in old bloodstains.

Upon the throne sat a huge man, easily the biggest Hibino had ever seen. He wore spiked gauntlets, greaves and pauldrons, and on his head was a helmet that resembled a samurai kabuto with a skull-like facemask or menpo that covered the upper half of his face. This had to be the emperor Shao Kahn.

Clustered around him was an assortment of odd-looking fighters. One of them, Shang Tsung, stepped forwards.

“Ah the Earthrealm delegation has arrived” he said with a mocking smile. He spotted Hibino and his smile broadened. “What‘s this? Is Raiden so desperate he sends a boy to perform the work of a man?”

Hibino bristled and stomped forwards. Liu Kang called after him but Hibino ignored him.

“I see we have a volunteer for the first match” said Shang Tsung, his smile never wavering.

A humanoid with scaly, green skin and yellow eyes leapt forwards and landed in front of Hibino. The creature wore green trousers, black gauntlets and pauldrons and a green and black breastplate. A black mask hid his lower face.

“Bring it on!” Hibino said.

Reptile sprang forwards and slashed with his clawed hands. Hibino easily dodged each swipe and threw a volley of punches but Reptile blocked or evaded each one. He dropped to the ground and threw a leg sweep. Hibino jumped over it but the brief distraction allowed Reptile to back-pedal away, giving him enough breathing room to reach up and remove his mask, revealing his fang-filled maw.

His jaws opened and shot out a stream of green liquid that Hibino narrowly dodged. The liquid fell to the floor with a sharp hissing sound, blackening the dirt and sending up wisps of smoke.

Hibino was enraged. “YOU SPIT AT ORE-SAMA! I‘LL TEACH YOU!”

He charged forwards and began throwing punches so fast his arms became a blur. Reptile was completely overwhelmed as Hibino’s fists smashed into him again and again like a pair of jackhammers. He fell to the ground as his opponent continued to whale on him.

“This whole thing is way too weird” said Taro. “It‘s like the plot of a video game.”

“Yeah it‘s weird but we‘ve dealt with stuff like this before” said Ichijou.

“Yeah I remember you told me. I thought you just made that stuff up.”

“Believe me it‘s real.”

Raiden materialised in his usual flash of lightning. He nodded at the three of them.

“I apologise for the delay. It is imperative that the emperor not realise we are on to his plan.”

“We understand” said Yamana.

“Then let us proceed.”

When they opened their eyes they were standing in a large chamber with two stone pillars on either side. The room was empty except for a large throne carved to resemble a horned demonic face. Behind it were two windows showing empty sky. There were several braziers but all of them were unlit.

“Where are we?” Taro asked as he looked around in awe.

“We are in the emperor‘s fortress” Raiden explained. “This is the throne room.”

“It’s creepy” Yamana commented.

“Yeah” Ichijou agreed

Raiden took out a folded up piece of parchment and handed it to Ichijou. “This is a map of the fortress. It will guide you to the Soul Chamber. There you will find a pillar of swirling green light. When you do, throw this into it.”

He took out another item, a blue crystal the size of an apple and also handed it to him. He nodded as he accepted it.

“You must be extremely careful. Most of the emperor‘s forces will be at the arena for the tournament but some of them will still be here.”

“We‘ll be careful” Ichijou replied.

“I must go. Trust in each other and you will prevail.” With that he teleported away in a flash of lightning.

Ichijou studied the map intently. “Okay this looks like the quickest way down” he said as he ran his finger over the parchment. “Let‘s get going.”

“You will go nowhere” said a cold, hollow voice.

They spun around as a figure emerged from the shadows. He wore the black costume of a ninja, with a hood and mask. All they could see of his face were solid white eyes. The skin around them was ebony.

“I am Noob Saibot. Surrender and you will live. Resist and you will face my wrath.”

Ichijou frowned as he stepped in front of Yamana and Taro. He had fought ninjas before but he had no doubt that this one would be far more formidable.

He was right. Noob attacked with a fast, fluid series of blows that he barely managed to block. He tried to counter-attack but the ninja evaded each attack.

“Jump” Taro called.

Ichijou did so, narrowly avoiding a leg sweep. Noob was on his feet and attacking again instantly.

“Block left, right, left” Taro called, using his ability to predict fighting moves. Ichijou followed his instructions, intercepting each of Noob’s strikes.

“Duck!”

Ichijou ducked under a spinning back kick and landed two punches to Noob’s torso followed by a front kick. He aimed a blow at his head but Noob ducked and then back-flipped away, landing several metres back.

“Impressive, but can you fight something you can‘t see?”

A cloud of ink-black smoke engulfed him and when it cleared there was no trace of him.

“What the…?”

Ichijou threw a blind forwards punch that hit nothing. He turned his head from side to side, listening for his foe’s movements, but he couldn’t hear a sound. A blow to the gut folded him in half. Invisible hands seized him and hurled him into a pillar.

Just then Yamana noticed one of the braziers and an idea came to her. She snatched up the brazier and rushed towards Ichijou as he stood up but was promptly knocked down again. Estimating where Noob was standing, she flung the brazier’s contents through the air.

Noob roared in rage as the ashes hit him, staining his head and upper torso and making them visible again so that he looked like a floating grey head without a body. Surprised, Noob hesitated just long enough for Ichijou to strike.

Now that he could see his foe again he was able to land a powerful uppercut that lifted Noob off his feet and knocked him out cold. He hit the floor hard and lay still, fading back into visibility.

It was Hibino’s turn to fight again and he strode forwards with his usual cocky smirk. So far Cage and Jax had been knocked out of the tournament but he was unconcerned. He knew he could handle whatever these freaks threw at him.

“You will face Quan Chi” Shao Kahn announced.

A white-skinned man with strange symbols tattooed onto his arms and forehead moved to face Hibino. “No Earthrealm boy can stop the Netherrealm‘s greatest sorcerer” he sneered.

“I‘ll make you eat those words” Hibino replied.

Quan Chi answered by disappearing into a portal of green light that appeared beneath him. Hibino dodged back just in time as his foe appeared overhead and slammed down into the ground. Before Quan Chi could recover from the missed attack Hibino landed a volley of powerful punches that sent him staggering back, finishing with an uppercut that launched him into the air .

He hit the ground but managed to roll away and get up. With a hateful glare he thrust both hands forwards as they shone with green light. The light formed into a glowing skull that he fired at Hibino.

Unfazed, Hibino drew out his baseball bat from behind his back. One swing shattered the skull into fragments which faded away. Quan Chi fired two more energy skulls but they were also shattered.

Incensed, the sorceror again thrust his hands out, this time with a pale, purplish-white light surrounding them. He chanted something as he moved his hands in slow up and down patterns.

Hibino had seen him use this on Cage. At the sight of the swaying hands Cage had seemingly become entranced and walked up to the sorceror who had then pummelled him.

Ha! Ore-sama is too strong-minded for that to work. But it does give me an idea.

He pretended to be enthralled, walking forwards with his arms held out and his bat hanging loosely. Predictably Quan Chi grinned.

As soon as he was close enough Hibino dropped his act and swung the bat. Caught completely by surprise Quan Chi was hit right in the face, breaking his jaw. He reeled away, stunned by the blow. Hibino hit him a second and a third time, the final blow knocking Quan Chi off his feet. He landed hard and did not get up.

Hibino laughed. “Cheap little tricks like that can‘t beat Ore-sama.”

He slung the bat over his shoulder and started strolling back to the other fighters. Behind him Quan Chi staggered to his feet and drew a jagged knife. Eyes blazing he lunged forwards…

Hibino whirled around but before he could strike, Kung Lao’s hat whizzed past him. There was a sound like a knife slicing through meat and Quan Chi’s headless body hit the ground with a thud! The spectators cheered wildly.

Ichijou, Yamana and Taro had made good progress through the fortress since leaving the throne room. However as Raiden had warned them there were still some patrols and the need to avoid those slowed them considerably.

Right now they were passing through a long corridor lined with gold statues of robed and hooded figure wielding swords. A red carpet covered the floor and sunlight poured in through a large window.

Ichijou looked down at the map. “This tower leads almost directly to the Soul Chamber. We‘ll be there in just a few minutes.”

“Hmm, now that‘s a good plan” said a voice.

All of them tensed. The voice was female but sounded decidedly unhinged, with an odd sing-song tone.

A woman stepped out from behind one of the statues. She wore a purple outfit with elbow-length gloves and knee-length boots. A mask covered her lower face. The rest of her outfit left practically nothing to the imagination. Yamana immediately covered Taro’s eyes.

“That‘s a good plan” the woman repeated. “But there‘s one little thing.” As if from thin air she produced a pair of sai. “Mileena‘s here.”

She lunged at Ichijou with a fierce flurry of jabs aimed at his head and torso. He bobbed and weaved, avoiding them all but he couldn’t mount any kind of counter-attack.

“Duck and sweep!” Taro yelled.

He did so, avoiding two jabs to his eyes, and took Mileena’s legs out from under her. She hit the floor but rolled clear and leapt back up. With incredible speed and agility she jumped right over his head and stabbed at his head while still in the air but he managed to duck under it.

“Block low!” Taro yelled again.

Following his directions Ichijou blocked a jab at his solar plexus and caught her wrist. She merely laughed.

“Naughty little boy. Now I have to punish you.”

She pointed her other sai at Taro and fired a purple energy bolt. It hit him right in the chest and he fell.

“Taro!”

Yamana rushed over and knelt next to him. She sighed in relief as she saw he was still breathing.

Ichijou, shocked by what he’d just seen, couldn’t react in time to block a knee to the gut that sent him stumbling back, winded. Mileena drove her sai at him again and again. Each time he barely dodged it.

Having confirmed that Taro was okay Yamana stood up, her relieved expression turning to one of fury. She marched resolutely up to Mileena, put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around.

Before Mileena could react Yamana punched her in the jaw with all her strength. She was out cold before she hit the floor.

“Ichijou! Are you…?” she asked in concern.

“I‘m okay, thanks. Is Taro…?”

“He‘s fine.”

Indeed, Taro had already gotten up and looked okay. In fact he had a look of awe on his face.

“That was amazing” he said. “You took her out like she was nothing!”

Ichijou nodded. “Remind me never to get you mad.”

She laughed softly.

Hibino frowned as he watched the battle raging between Liu Kang and Kintaro, a huge, four-armed man with orange tiger-like fur. He and Liu were the last two Earthrealm fighters left, everyone else having been knocked out. Liu was fighting well but was struggling against Kintaro’s inhuman strength.

Just as he looked about to collapse Liu seemed to find a last reserve of strength, leaping into the air to deliver a flurry of bicycle kicks to his foe’s head and torso. Kintaro toppled over and hit the ground with a noise like a falling tree.

Hibino grinned as Liu was declared the winner but his grin disappeared a second later as Liu fell to the ground. Raiden hurried over to him.

“He lives but he can no longer fight in this tournament” he said grimly.

Shao Kahn laughed. “What a pity Raiden. That leaves you with only the boy to fight.”

Hibino glared at him. “Ore-sama is going to rule the world. He won‘t stand for you trying to conquer it.”

Shao Kahn stood. “Then face me in Mortal Kombat!”

“Gladly.”

Hibino charged in with furious punches and kicks. Every one connected but each time there was a flash of gold light and the emperor was completely unfazed, as if the light was absorbing the force of each blow.

Surprised, Hibino broke off his attack and was promptly sent flying backwards by a front kick. As he got up Shao Kahn shoulder-charged him. At the last second he got out of the way. He threw two more punches but again they had no effect.

Growling in frustration Hibino drew out a lead pipe and swung it with all his might. Yet again it was negated by the gold flash.

“I also have a weapon” the emperor taunted as his Wrath Hammer appeared in his hands. With a mighty swing he struck the pipe so hard it bent a full ninety degrees. Hibino flung it away as Shao Kahn laughed, his hammer disappearing.

Ichijou, Yamana and Taro had finally made it to the Soul Chamber. It was a large cavern with walls of red rock and numerous stone columns. The biggest column had been carved into a demonic face with a large open mouth full of stone fangs. Inside the mouth was the pillar of green light that Raiden had described.

“Finally we made it” said Ichijou. “Now let‘s…”

He was cut off as the pillar began to fluctuate and orbs of green light started began swirling in front of it. Ichijou hastily took out the crystal and handed it to Taro.

“You have disturbed our regeneration process” said a voice. It had an odd, reverberating tone, as if several people were speaking at once.

With a flash of light the orbs coalesced into a figure in a red and black uniform. Black wrappings covered his face, leaving only a pair of glowing green eyes visible. Had they been at the arena they would have recognised him as Ermac.

“The emperor will have your souls” he said.

“Throw the crystal into the light while I distract him” he whispered to Taro.

The boy nodded.

Ichijou stood firm. He needed to let the enemy make the first move so that Taro would have a clear path to the light.

He wasn’t disappointed. Ermac leaped in and a spinning kick to the side of his head sent him sprawling to the floor. Before he could get up Ermac raised a hand. A green glow surrounded Ichijou and he was yanked into the air where he hung suspended like a puppet, arms extended at his sides. He tried to struggle but couldn’t budge. Then he saw Yamana pulling her fist back as she prepared to rush Ermac.

“Keep back” he yelled, knowing that this opponent was the most dangerous yet. She frowned but stayed where she was.

Ermac raised his other hand. Ichijou felt steadily increasing pressure being applied to both his arms and realised to his alarm that Ermac was going to crush them.

But the distraction had worked. Taro ran up to the stone demon face and flung the crystal right into the pillar of green light. Instantly it changed colour to blue, there was a blinding flash and the pillar disappeared completely.

Ermac lowered his arms and Ichijou dropped to the floor as he was released from the telekinetic grip. He was about to attack but before he could Ermac disappeared in another green flash.

“Yeah! We did it!” Taro cheered.

“Let‘s just hope we were in time” said Ichijou.

Shao Kahn laughed mockingly as the mortal boy charged him again. Did he truly think he had a chance of defeating the Conquerer of Worlds?

His laughter was abruptly cut off as a mighty punch slammed into his jaw and he was sent reeling back.

“What is this?” he said in disbelief as he rubbed his jaw.

Now it was Hibino’s turn to laugh. “Ore-sama‘s servants succeeded. Any faint hope you had of winning is now gone.”

With an enraged roar Shao Kahn charged him. They stood toe-to-toe, exchanging thunderous blows for a moment until the emperor managed to seize Hibino’s throat and lift him off the ground but he responded by wrapping his limbs around Shao Kahn’s arm and wrenching himself to one side with such force that his enemy was thrown off his feet.

“Enough of this!” Shao Kahn bellowed as he materialised his Wrath Hammer again and swung. Rather than dodging back, Hibino instead moved forwards and caught the hammer’s shaft, stopping it in place.

“Impossible” said the emperor. “You cannot be this strong.”

Hibino just grinned as he yanked the hammer out of his foe’s grip. He spun and leaped, bringing the hammer around in an arc.

Raiden, the Earthrealm warriors and the spectators watched, time seeming to slow as the hammer smashed right into the emperor’s head and sent him flying backwards.

Shao Kahn staggered to his feet. He cried out in pain, shaking uncontrollably as beams of gold light shone from his eyes and his torso. With a final wail he exploded in a burst of flames.

Hibino shielded his eyes from the blast. When he looked again there was nothing left of Shao Kahn but a small fire and pieces of burned armour.

He set the hammer down, his grin broadening.

“Ore-sama wins!”

“I cannot thank you enough. You have saved Earthrealm” said Raiden.

He stood in front of Hibino, Ichijou, Yamana and Taro. They were back in the White Lotus Society Temple grounds.

“Ha, as if there was any doubt I‘d win” Hibino scoffed.

Ichijou bristled but Yamana spoke first.

“Hibino” she said, her tone polite but with a clear edge.

“All right the rest of you helped” he admitted. “A bit.”

Raiden smiled. “Now return to your own lives, with my blessing.”

He raised a hand and in a flash of lightning they were teleported back to the church.

“Wow that was awesome!” Taro exclaimed. “Just wait until I tell the guys!”

“I think we should keep this to ourselves” said Ichijou. “People would think we were crazy.”

Taro sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.” He cheered up as he added, “but we know what happened.”

“It was one emperor Hibino” Ichijou pointed out but Hibino just strolled off. With a shrug he followed, as did a smiling Yamana and Taro.

Two days later they were back at the arcade watching as Ichijou and Taro played the game again. After his battles against the Outworld warriors Ichijou was confident that he could handle a mere computer game.

Unfortunately his skills at cyber-fighting were stil lacking and he lost again. Hibino howled with laughter.

“Too bad Ichijou. Looks like you need a lot more practise.”

“Okay Hibino why don‘t you show me how it‘s done?”

“Very well. This will be a breeze” he said as he took Ichijou’s place.

Soon afterwards;

“ARGH!” Hibino roared in rage as he lost again. “This ***** machine is cheating.”

Ichijou, Yamana and Taro watched him with amused smiles.

“Well we‘re off home now. You coming Hibino?”

“Not a chance. Ore-sama will beat this game if it‘s the last thing he does!”

“See you tomorrow then. Bye Hibino” said Ichijou with a sly grin.

“Bye and good luck” said Yamana.

Hibino grunted something in reply and continued bashing buttons as they left.